New housing benefits available to veterans

Published: Saturday, July 19, 2014 at 03:20 PM.

The N.C. Housing Finance Agency has announced financial mortgage prevention help to veterans attending school under the GI Bill.

Funded by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the state fund makes mortgage payments for as long as 36 months or as much as $36,000 while a homeowner looks for work or completes a job search or training program, according to a news release from the agency.

The assistance is offered as a zero-interest deferred loan. No payments are due as long as the homeowner lives in the home.

Veterans who study under the GI Bill or participate in a VA-approved vocational training program are eligible as long as their mortgage payments exceed 25 percent of their household income.

This is a second step in less than a year to make the N.C. Foreclosure Prevention Fund more user-friendly for the state’s military population — which accounts for 10 percent of all active-duty military personnel in the United States (115,000, the most per-capita of any state) and includes more than 771,000 veterans. Earlier this year, the agency ensured that returning veterans enrolled in vocational training or rehabilitation programs would be eligible.

“The transition from military to civilian life can be a challenge,” said A. Robert Kucab, executive director of the agency. “It’s especially important that veterans be able to participate fully in these foreclosure prevention benefits. Our agency is working closely with the VA and veterans groups across the state to make sure military families know that help is available for those who need it.”

The fund has made mortgage payments for more than 16,000 homeowners while they looked for employment or retrained. Funds are available to assist an additional 4,000.

The N.C. Housing Finance Agency has announced financial mortgage prevention help to veterans attending school under the GI Bill.

Funded by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the state fund makes mortgage payments for as long as 36 months or as much as $36,000 while a homeowner looks for work or completes a job search or training program, according to a news release from the agency.

The assistance is offered as a zero-interest deferred loan. No payments are due as long as the homeowner lives in the home.

Veterans who study under the GI Bill or participate in a VA-approved vocational training program are eligible as long as their mortgage payments exceed 25 percent of their household income.

This is a second step in less than a year to make the N.C. Foreclosure Prevention Fund more user-friendly for the state’s military population — which accounts for 10 percent of all active-duty military personnel in the United States (115,000, the most per-capita of any state) and includes more than 771,000 veterans. Earlier this year, the agency ensured that returning veterans enrolled in vocational training or rehabilitation programs would be eligible.

“The transition from military to civilian life can be a challenge,” said A. Robert Kucab, executive director of the agency. “It’s especially important that veterans be able to participate fully in these foreclosure prevention benefits. Our agency is working closely with the VA and veterans groups across the state to make sure military families know that help is available for those who need it.”

The fund has made mortgage payments for more than 16,000 homeowners while they looked for employment or retrained. Funds are available to assist an additional 4,000.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the GI Bill, formally the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944.

The fund was created in 2010 in response to high unemployment, which continues to exceed the national average in three-quarters of North Carolina counties.

To qualify for assistance, a veteran must have separated from service on or after Jan. 1, 2008, provide a DD214, have a VA-issued Certificate of Eligibility for the GI Bill, and provide proof of enrollment in school or a vocational retraining program. Homeowners do not have to be delinquent on mortgage payments to qualify.

Veterans and civilians can apply for assistance from the Fund through more than 40 HUD-approved counseling agencies statewide, or by going online at www.NCForeclosurePrevention.gov. Information is available on the website or by calling 1-888-623-8631.

The N.C. Housing Finance Agency is a self-supporting public agency. It has financed nearly 215,000 affordable homes and apartments since its creation in 1973.